Musings on food and life from Beth Bader, the co-author of The Cleaner Plate Club. Ingredients: original recipes, food policy insights, parenting fun, and a dash of humor.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Pretty in Pink: Beet Risotto

We've been battling the beet for some time around our house. What was once a reviled vegetable by my spouse is now beloved and, yes, requested even. In fact, requested often enough (and in season twice a year here) that I'm starting to dig a bit deeper to create new recipes for this root.

The Roasted Beet salad dressing and the Blueberry-Beet Smoothie from our book are still my favorites, but this shocking pink risotto is right up there. It looks stunning on a plate, too, once you get past the notion that this would be something my kiddo's "Barbie Celebrity Chef" (courtesy of her aunt) would whip up if it were just sparkly as well as pink — and if I had not already vacuumed up most of her tiny cooking utensils.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the washed beets in foil and wrap
well. Roast for about 60 minutes, until fork tender. When cool, rub
beets with paper towel and skins slip off easily. You can do this step
the day before and refrigerate the beets. Dice them to 1/4-inch dice.

In a small pan, heat the chicken stock over medium heat and keep hot to add to the rice. Heat a larger saucepan, add the olive oil. Saute the arborio rice for about three minutes until translucent and just slightly golden. Add a cup of hot stock to the rice, stirring occasionally until the stock is absorbed. Continue adding stock by the half cup, then stirring to prevent sticking. The rice releases a lot of its starch with this method, giving risotto its creamy texture. Aim for an al dente texture to the rice grains and a creamy consistency overall.

Note: you can use this basic risotto recipe to create other recipes, too. It makes about 3 cups of risotto.

Gently fold in the goat cheese and rosemary. Add the beets, gently folding, again, until the risotto takes on a bright pink hue, but the beets are not mashed. Salt and pepper to taste. You'll need less salt if you used commercial stock that is not low sodium, so add carefully, tasting first.

“Besides Nigella Lawson’s “How to Be a Domestic Goddess,” I can’t think of another cookbook that causes me to laugh out loud. From page one, I felt like I was sitting at my table with old friends. This isn’t just a cookbook: it’s an educational arsenal to wield your way with grace and dexterity through the carnival that is the modern American food system…Without increasing my weekly budget, I increased our vegetable consumption at our evening meals by two vegetable dishes a night. It was no longer a battle of eat your veggies,’ but a question of ‘which vegetable would you like to eat tonight?’”

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The Cleaner Plate Club offers simple solutions, recipes, meal suggestions, and tips to help parents get kids to eat good food and -- guess what? -- enjoy it. With humor and compassion, the authors show readers how to prepare real foods, plan ahead and estimate prep time, and get used to cooking food that doesn't come with printed directions. Their fresh advice will help parents eliminate food waste, plan for leftovers, present foods that are appealing to kids, and quit fighting with their children about food. The Cleaner Plate Club offers kid-tested recipes for every meal, basic vegetable preparations for farmers' market finds, and more healthful recipes for sweets and snacks. Readers will also find shopping strategies, the reasons kids like the foods they do, and vegetable profiles (including nutrition information and tips on selection, storage, and preparation). Expert advice and innovative ideas about feeding kids make this book a must-have for any parent. Fresh, funny, and nonjudgmental, The Cleaner Plate Club is a recipe for healthier kids and happier parents.